Comments by the leader of the Scottish Christian Party on the secular, scientific, political and ecclesiastical scene and the application of Christianity to public life.
Today is the 50th anniversary of my completing the reading of the Christian Bible for the first time as a 16 year old. I have re-read it daily ever since. Wondering how best to commemorate this day, I decided about a month ago to complete my brief online summary of the Bible. It is fitting …
Continue reading A Summary of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible
Today is the 95th birthday of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, only days after the death and burial of her husband of 73 years. She has served her country well and overseen a period of tremendous change in the life of Britain and the British …
Wise king Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes gives much wisdom for daily life, just as his book of Proverbs gives wise advice particularly to the young. A summary of Ecclesiastes chapter 10 runs as follows: Working conditions The damaging effect of a little folly upon one's reputation v1, and the more so when it becomes endemic …
Continue reading Foolish government according to wise king Solomon
"Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroys much good."The wise king Solomon's Book of Ecclesiastes 9:18 The context is public life Ecc 9:14-17 and the wise is contrasted with the fool Ecc 9:17. One fool in public life can destroy much good. A whole city can ignore the wise Ecc 9:15-16. …
The need of the hour is to expose eclectic exegesis for what it is – choosy and subjective. 'Eclectic' derives from the concept of 'choosing out' from a variety of choices. Eclectic has a wide meaning and it is often applied in a positive sense to indicate that one is not narrow-minded but that one …
Today is the second anniversary of my brother Andrew's death. It is also the 49th anniversary of my reading the whole Bible for the first time on 22/8/1971. I have read the Bible daily ever since and now I spend several hours a day on my Bible commentary, making its teaching accessible to ordinary people, …
I attended a useful lecture last night on The Forgotten John Bunyan, whose Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian classic. The adjective 'Forgotten' in the title referred not so much to Bunyan himself but in part to Bunyan's language, imagination and use of metaphors, which were controversial in 17th-century British Christianity. Pilgrim's Progress is sometimes described …
I recently summarised examples of Jesus’ extraordinary conversation in the Gospel of John. I hope it will be helpful to have a brief summary of the New Testament. Background – language and layout The New Testament was written after the Lord Jesus Christ appeared on Earth. In contrast, the Old Testament was written before He …
Continue reading A summary of the New Testament in the Christian Bible
Roman Catholic doctrine continues to be seen in the presbyterian practice of repentance. Whereas presbyterians may preach biblical repentance, some presbyterian procedures involve Roman Catholic penance in practice. Whereas preaching may not be legalistic, practice can be. It reminds us of the Saviour's warning to do as officialdom says, but not to do as they …
There are people who exegete Scripture as if it is code. I call it code exegesis and it is over three years since I intended to explain it more fully. As Scripture clearly has Old Testament types of Christ and symbols of various spiritual matters, this has developed into a form of allegorising that sees …
